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Sakurai Ryuuto - Recurring main character. The son of the family that Touko lives with. A thrill-seeking playboy who is frighteningly successful with women (of all ages). High school first year, but in a different school.
Amemiya Hotaru - Wealthy high school first year in Konoha's school. Seemingly anorexic.
Kujou Kayano - Hotaru's mother. She was always sickly, and dies when Hotaru is only a few years old.
Kurosaki Tamotsu - Hotaru's legal guardian. Always wears dark glasses, and seems to spend more time at his company than with Hotaru.
"Aoi" - A boy that grew up with Kayano.

The plot for this volume gets extremely convoluted. One of the main problems is that this time around you really need to get to the very very end before some things make sense, and the plot moves much slower compared to vol.1. Throw in a ton of relationships and allusions to the characters in Wuthering Heights, and it becomes confusing as hell. It's almost certainly the weakest book in the series, but it might make more sense if I re-read it knowing how everything ties together.

I would really need to read it again to give a good summary, so instead I'm just gonna do a much simpler summary this time around.

Spoiler for Background:

The main plot starts with the Youkai Postbo-... the Love Consultation Postbox again. However, instead of a love-struck girl begging for help, Touko gets... a postbox full of scraps with messages like "hate", "help me", "the ghost", "scared", "it hurts", "disappear", or long strings of numbers, such as "14 41 475 3 24 21 43 2 11 3 16 43".
Which, according to Touko, means "A heavy rock will fall from above, so die, both of you! GO!"

Konoha, meanwhile, thinks she's insane (with good reason). They even end up going to Maki for help, but all she does is mention a ghost story about the school. Touko ignores her and insists that there's no such thing as ghosts.

Touko takes the message as a challenge to the Literature Club however, and ropes Konoha into a midnight stakeout of the postbox to catch whoever's ruining her source of snacks helpful advice postbox. With the exams coming up, Konoha would rather go home and study, but Touko can be forceful at times...

So, that night, they stay at school and watch the postbox. Or rather, Touko watches the postbox very seriously, while Konoha studies his textbooks. However, something strange happens. The school bell suddenly sounds, and some of the lights in the rooms flash on and off. The sounds of a woman sobbing and asking someone to be let in carries over the wind to Touko and Konoha. Touko's just getting ready to tell Konoha that there's no such thing as ghosts, when...

They notice a silhouette by the postbox. A young girl, in a school uniform and carrying a black student bookbag. However, the school uniform wasn't like the one Touko was wearing, but an older one-piece style... the school's old uniform. The girl walks up to the postbox, and takes out a notebook. She scribbles some words, tears up the page, and then dumps the scraps into the postbox.

Touko forces Konoha to go with her to confront the "ghost". The girl was beautiful, but with an arrogant smile. When asked who she was and what she was doing, she says, "I am Kujou Kayano. And where I go and what I do is my business and my business alone. I do what I want to do, when I want to." When asked about the postbox, she says that she's writing a letter, but refuses to explain who it's to. Touko asks her about the numbers, but she only says cryptically, "That's a secret between me and him."

The girl turns to leave, but Touko grabs her arm to stop her. A look of surprise crosses Touko's face, but she still manages to ask if the girl is in any sort of trouble and needs their help. The girl merely laughs and says, "Ahaha, you wouldn't be able to help. After all, I'm already dead." The girl leaves.

Touko slumps to the floor. She tells Konoha that the girl's arm was thin, so thin that she was like someone a hundred years old, and it felt like her arm was just skin and bone.

End Chapter 1

Hrmm... already writing more than I was planning to .

Spoiler for Bold sections:

Bold sections this time around are a third-person narrative. They serve mostly to show the viewpoints of other characters, but the identity and purpose of the writer isn't given until near the very end.

One theme that the bold sections (and parts of the main text) touch on is not having enough time. Several characters mention not having enough time, or wanting to "relive the past".

Spoiler for Amemiya Hotaru:

The next day, Touko meets up with Konoha and tells him she found the girl from the previous night - Amemiya Hotaru, another second-year student in a different class from Konoha. They go to meet her, and it looks like Touko is right; the girl looks just like the girl they saw at night, but as they follow just behind her, she suddenly faints. Konoha brings her to the school nurse, but apparently it's something that always happens, since Hotaru seems to be anorexic.

So. Why was Hotaru wearing an old uniform, calling herself Kayano, and writing those numbers and disturbing messages? She also displays some strange behavior, such as refusing to eat anything at all, getting driven around by mysterious men in suits, and anyone that tries to go out with her gets threatened or outright assaulted. That's the mystery that's set up, but the real mystery is

Spoiler:

how anyone's supposed to make any sense out of the plot at all on a single read <_<;. Trust me, it gets reaaaaaaaaaaally confusing.

Spoiler for More about Hotaru:

Ryuuto gets introduced at some point, and he turns into a big source of info because of the number of women he's dating (approximately, oh, half the world or so). He approaches Konoha because he wants to date Hotaru as well, so he helps Konoha get more information on her by introducing him to some girls; Hotaru's former classmate, and an OL that works in Hotaru's guardian's company.

According to the classmate, Hotaru's mother died when she was in her first year of elementary school. She lived with her father and aunt (father's sister), and housekeeper and other servants in a big mansion. In her first year of middle school, her aunt got married and left. Not long after, her father died suddenly of a heart attack. Two weeks later, her aunt also died in a car accident. With almost no family left, Hotaru is taken care of by her aunt's husband, who fires all of the servants, and sells the mansion.

According to the OL, this same guardian is also suspected of killing Hotaru's father and even his own wife to gain control of the company. There're also rumors that he hasn't been eating anything, keeps telling some hospital that something is "impossible" and to "redo the tests". He also mentions there not being enough time.

Spoiler for Kurosaki:

It turns out that Hotaru's guardian, Kurosaki, ended up buying Hotaru's mother's old mansion back after selling Hotaru's father's mansion. He also watches Hotaru from a distance, but doesn't get close for some reason, and Hotaru seems to be wary of him as well.

To make head or tail of all this, we need to look at

Spoiler for Kujou Kayano, Hotaru's mother:

When she was a girl, her father suddenly came back from an overseas business trip with an orphan, "Aoi". Kayano and Aoi grew close and were nearly inseparable, even communicating in their own code that they made.

However, when Kayano was in middle school, her father and mother suddenly died, and Kayano was left alone (just like Hotaru). Her uncle became her guardian, but he wanted to get rid of Aoi. Kayano stopped this by refusing to eat anything that Aoi didn't make, and this continued for some time.

But, in Kayano's second year of high school, she suddenly told Aoi that she was going to marry Amemiya Takeshi. Aoi left the house soon after, and not long after that, Hotaru was born.

Holy hell, this novel is NOT summarizable... I've written nearly as much as what I had for Vol.1, and I'm not even close to being able to explain everything.

Spoiler for Really spoilery summary that doesn't even attempt to bring things together naturally:

Aoi is an obvious parallel to Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, and he is also Kurosaki, since he changed his name to get revenge on Kayano. He originally left because he felt betrayed by Kayano when she decided to get married, when they had been together for so long, and even expected him to be happy for her. He left Japan in spite, but by the time he came back, Kayano had already died, so he was already too late to get his revenge. In some baffling series of events he manages to gain control of everything Kayano and her husband owned, and he takes up guardianship of Hotaru, who looks just like her mother.

Hotaru and Kayano look so alike that Kurosaki is torn; at times he seems to think that Hotaru is Kayano, and wants to make her act like Kayano. At other times, he seems to be afraid of her, and so he keeps his distance, rarely ever going home.

This exacts a toll on Hotaru though.

Spoiler for Major spoilers:

Having lost her parents, her family, her childhood housekeeper, and everything, she is desperately lonely. Her mother also told her all about "Aoi", and how she was in love with him. Because of this, Hotaru had her own fantasies of him, and wants his attention, especially because

Spoiler for Really major spoilers:

he's her real father (even though he doesn't know it). Kayano had to get married suddenly to hide the fact that she was pregnant with Aoi's child, and she was afraid of what the consequences might be if the truth were found out.

Spoiler for The other really major spoiler:

Hotaru is also terminally ill. Kurosaki mentioning that there's no time is because of this... he knows that Hotaru is dying, and this also scares him.

Everything that Hotaru does is a desperate plea for attention from a neglected child. After losing everyone, the person that her mother loved and admired, and who she herself loved and fantasized over, also pulled away out of fear; the fear of what he might or should do, and the fear of losing her.

So of course, bad decisions all around. I haven't even mentioned the underground windowless dungeon like room with crossed-out pictures of Hotaru/Kayano, the numbers and messages, Touko and Nanase going to a cosplay pub at night and getting arrested/hospitalized, Touko and Konoha nearly getting burned to death, Ryuuto getting stabbed, insane Hotaru, or anything about Maki... and she's rather important to this novel.

Spoiler for The end:

Kurosaki finally meets up with Hotaru, finds out she's actually his daughter. Kayano didn't betray him; in fact, she had his child, and the messages she left in several places in their code expressed her love for him. Kurosaki finally hugs her, and Hotaru starts to slip away, whispering "Father..." at the end. One week later, without ever waking again, she dies.

So, who was writing the bold sections? Who was the person behind bringing Hotaru to Touko? Who arranged everything to ensure that Touko would follow the case to the end, by scaring and luring her in with the ghost show effects at the beginning, mysterious letters and ominous black lilies in the Literature Club room?

Maki. She knew Hotaru from each their families and school. Maki wanted to write her story, but lacked the "deduction" ability of the Bookworm, Amano Touko, so she couldn't get the full picture of what was happening with Hotaru. She lured Touko in to help her with this, but why? It would seem uncharacteristic of Maki to help Hotaru find love at no advantage for herself... but what she wanted to experience was freedom. Hotaru had the freedom to love who she wanted to, and to act on that love no matter the consequences. On the other hand, Maki's life was dictated by her grandfather. In every little detail of her life, such as how she leads the Orchestra Club, Maki was controlled by her grandfather's wishes, and she helped Hotaru in order to get a small taste of what it felt like to do as one wished, and hell to the consequences.

[/ramble]

Confused yet? Take heart, this "summary" skips out on a lot of important information in Vol.2. I've haven't even mentioned Wuthering Heights at all...

Quote:

Originally Posted by azziz in PM

Spoiler:

hi,sorry to bother you but i'm really captivated by this serie-could only read fantranslation at b.tsuki-and i'm dying to know more so could you post(or pm me)more spoiler about:

Spoiler for vol.5:

kotonoha-miu history and interaction in vol.5(why does she hate him and what is her goel?what are-were her family problem and did she transfer in?)

Spoiler for Nanase:

-i'm curious about how will evolve his relationship with nanase:will he realise her felling for him,will they get closer(she seem too "tsundere" to confess)?

Spoiler for general characters:

-which new perso you find interesting will appear and why?will the story evolve like a tipical harem(male lead solving bishoujo problem who in return fall for him)or are the girl intetroduced in a more original way?(and will takeda return as an ally or antagonist?).

i hope you could ansear

Some other people might be interested, so I guess I'll post this here as well.

Spoiler for vol.5:

1. Miu had a horrible family (you'll notice that a lot of the people in the series have serious family problems). Her parents were always fighting, and used her as a nothing but another way to hurt each other. Miu hated Konoha for a number of reasons: She was jealous of his family, and she was tormented by the pressure he put on her. Konoha, being the naive fool he is, genuinely liked Miu, and thought she was creative, kind, a wonderful person and writer. However, she saw herself as the opposite. She plagiarized stories and passed them off as her own to Konoha, she manipulated and controlled him, lied and stole... However, the thing that pushed her towards suicide was that she couldn't live up to Konoha's ideal image of her.

In vol.5, she's extremely manipulative, and wants one thing: Konoha. Neither of her parents showed her any love, and she was ostracized at school. Konoha, however, was enraptured by her. Just having him genuinely like her might've saved her, but one thing pushed her over the edge (almost literally); Konoha's novel. Miu also entered the same competition because Konoha liked her writing so much, but she had actually written nothing... she couldn't think of anything to write, and hadn't for a long time. She had relied on plagiarism to keep Konoha interested, because she was afraid of losing him as well, but that wouldn't work in a competition. So, she turned in a blank entry, and planned on telling Konoha that she hadn't won, and justified herself by thinking that no 14-year-old could win anyway. However, a 14-year-old "girl" did win, proving that she was wrong and probably dealing a huge blow to her already low self-esteem. And when she read the winning novel and could tell that it was based on Konoha and herself, and she saw Konoha's image of her, she couldn't deal with the pressure.

IMHO, the bold sections in Vol.5 are too good to spoil. So I won't say anything more about this.

Spoiler for Nanase:

Nanase opens up a lot starting near the end of vol.3. She's also honest in her "love diary", and with her good friend Mito Yuuka.

Spoiler for specifics:

Nanase breaks down in tears in vol.3, and partly admits her feelings, mentioning that they had met before, and Konoha had done something for her that touched her extremely deeply, but Konoha doesn't remember.
Vol.4 was excellent, and has her being honest about everything, and both of them helping each other out of their depression (Nanase is extremely affected by the plot in vol.4).
Vol.5 they start dating, but this is also where Miu comes into the picture, and messes Konoha up really badly.
Vol.7 Valentine's! Home visit! Nanase's penguin and coin "collection"!

Spoiler for general characters:

Nah, no harem.

Spoiler for harem:

Takeda Chia never falls for him, Hotaru's dead, Sarashina was going for someone else anyway but gives up willingly, Nanase! is his one and only, Miu gives up, Maki isn't serious and just jokes around with him, and Touko...

And Takeda... nah, can't talk about her. She shouldn't be spoiled. And as for enemy or ally... it's kinda hard to say so easily .

After watching some MAD at nico2, I once thought like this : "Why do there seems to be much of Nanase's love ? o.o;" and then some parts of it also hint that Nanase might ends up with Konoha >_>;

Tell me, is this right or wrong ? And don't tell me about what happened to Tooko-senpai yet ;_; I think I'm going to wait until the anime/manga/novel translation come out and start to explain it

You're going to have to wait a few years before finding out I think.

Spoiler for Nanase's appeal?:

I think the love for Nanase comes from the fact that she's tsundere. She's also pretty and, unlike Touko, has large breasts. I can't say that I ever liked her that much.

Spoiler for Nanase's romance throughout the novels:

They don't end up together. It was pretty obvious throughout the novels that Konoha was only with her because she gave him a place to hide from his problems. Of course Omi also asked him to take care of Nanase too. It was also made very clear that Konoha was trying very hard to be a "proper" boyfriend and forcing himself to see her as a girlfriend.

Having just finished the novels, I have to say that volume 6 and volume 8 are my favorites. It was tough going around volume 4 and 5, but I guess it's because I didn't take a break in between the volumes. That and the fact that dealing with Konoha was a beginning to tire me out.

Spoiler for mild spoiler for volume 8:

I am so glad that Konoha found his strength in volume 8. And I totally didn't see that twist coming!

Wha-what !? So they broke up ? o.o; The fact that I'm asking this was because I don't like her that much either...for now.

Considering that there'll be an anime, I hope I won't wait that long >.<

Spoiler for volumes 7 and 8:

Yeah they broke up, but it should have been pretty obvious from the very beginning. I mean with how much we are beat over the head with the Juliet/Jerome/Alisa dynamic throughout volumes 7 and 8, it's hard to see how it could have ended better than it did. I also enjoyed seeing Konoha get clobbered by 3 of the girls for being Konoha though.

all those insinuation are very nice but...could you please post summary of vo.6-8 (how did evolve his relationship with touko while he was still with nanase;who are the other girl?and what is the plot about?);don't be afraid to spoil too much:i'll never be able to read those novel and no one will translate them so far.
But if you don't want to just pm me
i know it's a lot of work but sinse you are several to have read it if each of you could post detailed summary of at less one those three vol.,i'd really appreciate it.
(i actually tried to read and online translation of vol.3-4 andointless i couldn't understand even half of it so...summary should have to do...)

all those insinuation are very nice but...could you please post summary of vo.6-8 (how did evolve his relationship with touko while he was still with nanase;who are the other girl?and what is the plot about?);don't be afraid to spoil too much:i'll never be able to read those novel and no one will translate them so far.
But if you don't want to just pm me
i know it's a lot of work but sinse you are several to have read it if each of you could post detailed summary of at less one those three vol.,i'd really appreciate it.
(i actually tried to read and online translation of vol.3-4 andointless i couldn't understand even half of it so...summary should have to do...)

I'll see if I can do some short summaries when I get some time and skim through the novels again, but here are some things about the relationships.

Spoiler for major relationship spoilers from novels:

Touko and Konoha's relationship grew over the course of the two years that they've known each other. She's always been the only that he could feel at ease with and she's the only one who can help him when he has one of his fits. He just never examined his feelings for her since she was just there and was like a part of him. Of course she's also the one who helped him confront and deal with his demons concerning Miu. Nanase never really had a chance and she knew it. It's not surprising considering that one of the main reasons Konoha became her boyfriend was because Omi asked him to look after her before he disappeared.

Volume 6 is when some of Touko's inner turmoil starts to show and we get a hint of how much pain she's been hiding.

I'll see if I can do some short summaries when I get some time and skim through the novels again, but here are some things about the relationships.

Spoiler for major relationship spoilers from novels:

Touko and Konoha's relationship grew over the course of the two years that they've known each other. She's always been the only that he could feel at ease with and she's the only one who can help him when he has one of his fits. He just never examined his feelings for her since she was just there and was like a part of him. Of course she's also the one who helped him confront and deal with his demons concerning Miu. Nanase never really had a chance and she knew it. It's not surprising considering that one of the main reasons Konoha became her boyfriend was because Omi asked him to look after her before he disappeared.

Volume 6 is when some of Touko's inner turmoil starts to show and we get a hint of how much pain she's been hiding.

I'm dead lost. I just began reading volume 3, but someone from another forum that I frequent somehow manage to spoil it for me by accident, so I might as well ask here.

I will finish reading the rest for myself but I only skimmed the rest of the spoilers a little so I just want to know if Konoha ends with Tooko?

I'm dead lost. I just began reading volume 3, but someone from another forum that I frequent somehow manage to spoil it for me by accident, so I might as well ask here.

I will finish reading the rest for myself but I only skimmed the rest of the spoilers a little so I just want to know if Konoha ends with Tooko?

Also, Konoha is a VERY infuriating male lead.

I felt the same way about Konoha.

Spoiler for spoiler for end of series:

In a word, yes.

Spoiler for major spoiler details:

But it's a long road to get there. While Konoha's first novel was about his feelings for Miu, his second novel was about his feelings for Touko. When he gave it to her though, she only read it and didn't eat it and told him that she didn't have the right to make him her own novelist because someone of his talent belonged to everyone. The epilogue for the last novel skips ahead 6 years and shows Konoha getting ready to meet his new editor by wearing the white scarf even though it's summer.

Remember in the volume 1 when Tooko sait than she was supposed to have no hope in love for 7 years, the prediction will become true.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ickem

I felt the same way about Konoha.

Spoiler for spoiler for end of series:

In a word, yes.

Spoiler for major spoiler details:

But it's a long road to get there. While Konoha's first novel was about his feelings for Miu, his second novel was about his feelings for Touko. When he gave it to her though, she only read it and didn't eat it and told him that she didn't have the right to make him her own novelist because someone of his talent belonged to everyone. The epilogue for the last novel skips ahead 6 years and shows Konoha getting ready to meet his new editor by wearing the white scarf even though it's summer.

Ahhh I definitely remember that event in volume 1. In this sense, this is like Adachi's manga.

Spoiler for Very minor Adachi's work's plot progression:

Long, long great build up, but we don't see the couple's aftermath.

Kinda make me want more after though. Speaking of which, aren't there still something related to the series like 文学少女見習いの、傷心 which's supposed to come at the end of this year? What's that about?

Also, I read part of 文学少女と乙女に集う召喚獣 when I was actually reading バカとテストと召喚獣 . Needless to say, I was laughing pretty hard when I saw Tooko and Konoha's name showing up. For a second there I thought I was reading the wrong story. I always love it when authors do short crossover works (especially when you recognize both of them).

Though I have the hunt down the other part where they make cameo in 学校の階段 (which I should read too). Too bad they aren't making a TV series out of this. I always felt that just a movie/ova thingy is too short (even if it is by Production I.G.).

In general, it's kinda sad the English speaking community aren't huge on translating the novels. I understand the cross culture reference and language plays are a pain, but it just pains me that people watch some inferior adaptations (Chrome Shelled Regios comes to mind) and lose interest when the original's so much better. *sad face*

lol wow, I just stumbled across this manga at mangafox and thought it was pretty good, but this thread has practically nothing to do with that. This is a bit disappointing...the manga is years behind the novels, while the anime will only be an OVA/movie, and as for the novels themselves, those will be the least likely to be fully and precisely translated (by virtue of being novels). I don't know that I'll ever get to see the entirety of this story now, and statements to the effect of 'the manga doesn't compare to the novel' alienate me from being able to appreciate the series even further.

Man I don't know. I guess I'll keep following the manga and check out the anime when it comes. If the novel translation appears to gain enough momentum to reach completion I may check that out too. It's just somewhat disappointing to discover that this'll likely never be a 'masterpiece' that I can wholeheartedly throw my enthusiasm behind.

I need to learn not to click those freaking spoiler box...well, it's literally my fault for opening it at the first place lol.

Anyway, I can't believe that the manga translation had reached chapter 13 o.o; I think it's only yesterday that I wait for many days to get one chapter..not to mention that they only released 5 chapters at that time. And the novel translation had also finished the volume 1 o.o;

But it's a long road to get there. While Konoha's first novel was about his feelings for Miu, his second novel was about his feelings for Touko. When he gave it to her though, she only read it and didn't eat it and told him that she didn't have the right to make him her own novelist because someone of his talent belonged to everyone. The epilogue for the last novel skips ahead 6 years and shows Konoha getting ready to meet his new editor by wearing the white scarf even though it's summer.

Spoiler:

I think I missed something here. What is that white scarf supposed to represent? A present from Touko?

I think I missed something here. What is that white scarf supposed to represent? A present from Touko?

And what happened to Touko at the end?

Spoiler for answers:

This isn't supposed to represent something, you have to remember that moment in the 2nd chapter of the first novel, when Tooko tell the ''love fortune'' she reseived: than she will find Love in 7 year ( 6 year after she graduate) in summer... I won't say more

About the hard fact about Tooko know at the end: she just get out university with a bachelor's degree and started to search work ...